HTC says it will release blockchain smartphone in the fall

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has announced that it plans to release its own blockchain smartphone in the third quarter of this year. An exact release date for the smartphone called Exodus is still unknown.

HTC has not released much new information about the blockchain smartphone on its own website. The manufacturer does report that it has partnered with CryptoKitties, a game released last December on the Ethereum blockchain that lets players breed “little kittens.” The game is also already coming to a small part of the U12 + smartphones. According to TechCrunch, HTC will provide more information about the Exodus in the coming months.

The Exodus will be based on blockchain technology and will have a universal wallet that supports the protocols of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dfinity and Lightning Networks, among others. Ultimately, Exodus is intended to support the entire blockchain ecosystem. HTC wants to double or triple the number of nodes for Ethereum and Bitcoin with the Exodus smartphones. In addition to the universal wallet, the phone supports decentralized apps. The manufacturer also wants to develop its own blockchain network in which all Exodus smartphones as nodes facilitate cryptocurrency trading between Exodus users.

It was recently announced that HTC’s monthly revenue has fallen by 68 percent; the sale of the U12+ smartphone does not seem to be turning the tide for the manufacturer, which has been in trouble for a while. At the beginning of July, the company laid off another 1,500 employees at a production facility in Taiwan, about a quarter of its total workforce. In 2013, the company still had about 19,000 employees.